I would never understand the infatuation some people have with Jennifer Lopez... yes she is pretty, yes she can do a choreography but her singing is HIDEOUS! 99% of the time she lip sings, without the help of 'technology' she will sound pretty bad. She should continue being a successful business woman and let the singing and acting to those who have real natural talent, pleeeeease!

"But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of timeHoney, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the timeI've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlinedI check it once, then I check it twice (oh)"

This season is the first time in a long time that I was able to even watch all of an audition episode, much less two of them. The new judging panel with Harry added to the mix is a home run, he does the Simon role even better than Simon, and is more honest and direct about his criticisms in the auditions. And I am pleased that the joke/bad/stupid auditions have all but disappeared, it was one thing I refused to watch once the old regime made those the heart of the pre-Hollywood stage.

It'll be interesting to see how they handle the voting since AT&T is no longer a sponsor of AI. Dial Idols days may have come to an end, as most of the voting seems to be online or by text these days,

I am really liking the judges this year, especially Harry Connick Jr. He is the stability they needed to make the judging work. He doesn't seem afraid to tell the wanna-be singers what they need to hear but he does it in a much nicer way than Simon Cowell and it makes it much easier to watch the auditions.

I am really liking the judges this year, especially Harry Connick Jr. He is the stability they needed to make the judging work. He doesn't seem afraid to tell the wanna-be singers what they need to hear but he does it in a much nicer way than Simon Cowell and it makes it much easier to watch the auditions.

I agree with you, TL! He's really honest in the way he's judging. I can see that Keith and JLo judge based on can the contestant moves their heart and simply can go to Hollywood, but Harry judges based on how far the contestant may get through the rounds. Yes, he is really nice to the contestants (not like Simon Cowell ), and he's really funny when he's joking.

For the contestants, I can see the difference between not able to play guitar in previous seasons and now. This season, I can see that they're more prepared because the allowance to play guitar in audition. However, like Harry said IIRC, there will be some rounds in American Idol that don't allow them to play musical instrument, and I can see that as a boomerang for them who only prepared to sing with guitar, and it can be a downfall to them if their voice isn't strong enough to stand alone a capella.

Also, there are many of them are still too young to get an audition. Many of them, who are 15 years old, are making me think, do they realize about what will happen to their education if they make through far? I mean, it's okay if they have decided before to have a music career. But, I'm pretty sure that not all of them have that goal. Let's see what will happen in the last audition and the Hollywood round. I hope we can see some stars emerge!

"But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of timeHoney, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the timeI've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlinedI check it once, then I check it twice (oh)"

He seems to me to be extremely proud and arrogant especially during his group round attitude. Seems like another Angie Miller for me, really good performances but just lack the likability factor.

Just saw the group round clip... I don't like him at all. Not practicing with your group just seemed like a plan for sabotage.

Poor Alyssa (i think). I never liked it that they didn't base their decision on the particular performance but on an individual's overall performances so far. It's like they keep remembering on Lazaro's audition last season which was amazing, and kept him around all the way till the live rounds even though he doesn't deliver and perform. It makes it very unfair for those eliminated contestants who got "marked" from the very beginning if they didn't deliver at auditions. I mean, if they managed to change the judges impression, they will deliver an even deeper impression... but what are the odds.

Logged

"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

For the girls, I'm rooting for Briana Oakley and Kenzie Hall because they have great voices and their singing is phenomenal.For the guys, there are not much, but the one that stood out for me is Dexter Roberts.